Tropic Thunder

by Lauren Gitlin August 11, 2008 3:21 PM
Tropic Thunder

We open with an overhead shot of what appears to be a scene straight out of Apocalypse Now, complete with Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth" playing in the background as helicopters crash and grenades explode. At first glance it looks like we're in for a real, live war movie. But of course, we're not. Because this film has Ben Stiller and Jack Black and Robert Downey, Jr. So, duh, it is clearly a parody. Each one of them plays an archetypal actorly type -- Stiller (and his talking marmot-enrobed pecs) is the action dude; RDJ, whom we discover is a white actor who undergoes a controversial procedure so that he can play a black guy, is the pretentious "actor's actor"; and Black is the obnoxious, attention-craving comedian.

Tropic Thunder is your typical meta screwball comedy -- actors in a jungle filming a movie about being prisoners of war and then, in their pursuit of true Method acting, actually being taken captive by guerilla warriors. Aside from the one-liners, the aforementioned talking marmot pecs, the presence of my own personal crush Steve Coogan and the enduring radness of RDJ, there is the unadulterated pleasure of watching actors playing actors, thereby giving themselves over entirely to poking fun at themselves, their craft and their industry. And to top it off, they get their asses kicked by guerilla warriors. It's like Little Dieter Needs To Fly, if that shit had been funny instead of hugely disturbing. In other words, a must-see!

Reviews By People Who've Actually Seen It:
Variety
Rotten Tomatoes

Comments

SHARE THE SNARK

X

Get the most of your experience.
Share the Snark!

See content relevant to you based on what your friends are reading and watching.

Share your activity with your friends to Facebook's News Feed, Timeline and Ticker.

Stay in Control: Delete any item from your activity that you choose not to share.

BLOG ARCHIVES

Reviews of Movies We Haven't Seen Yet

January 2009

7 Entries

December 2008

24 Entries

November 2008

21 Entries

October 2008

31 Entries

September 2008

30 Entries

August 2008

14 Entries

July 2008

24 Entries

June 2008

20 Entries

May 2008

22 Entries

April 2008

24 Entries

March 2008

7 Entries

The Latest Activity On TwOP